Fuel feeding and drying apparatus



W. R. WOOD.

FUEL. FEED|NG AND DRYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-1.5.1919.

l boilers or furnaces.

Patented Q1-ct, i?, i922.

narran starte rari-rr onirica,

WILFRED R. WOOD, O1?y LONDON, ENGLAND.

FUEL FEEDING AN D DRYING APPARATUS.

Original application filed March 25, 1919, Serial No. 285,016. Dividedand this application filed December 1e, 1919.

T0 all whom t may concern Be it known that l, WILFRED Ro'rHnnY WOOD, acitizen of the United States of America, residing in London, England,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fuel Feeding andDrying Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

It has been proposed to dry fuels for feeding furnaces or the like byconveying them through tunnels or flues traversed by hot waste gases,but such a procedure complicates the plant and increases the capitaloutlay and cost of maintenance.

My invention relates to apparatus for drying fuel, such as coal, wood,peat or the like, by causing it to pass by gravity through the waste gasconnections, uptakes or flues of This avoids mechanism and moving parts.

For example, for feeding coal to a boiler furnace the apparatuscomprises a chute eX- tending vertically or inclined at an angle to thehorizontal greater than the angle of repose of the coal, or partinclined and part more or less vertical, through the uptake leading theproducts of combustion from the furnace to the chimney, or induceddraught. My invention will be more fully understood by reference to theaccompanying drawing, which represents a vertical section through thefurnace chamber a of a water-tube boiler having a well-known mechanicalstoker b. As usual, the furnace gases pass from the chamber a to thechimney by way of an uptake p. By my invention there is contained inthis uptake a coal chute d which together with the baffle i divides theuptake into an upper and a lower compartment; the chute is continued.outside the uptake by an upper extension e and a lower extension f.fithin the uptake the chute constructed of bars so that the gases canpass freely through it. Coal is suitably fed into the hopper g of themechanical stoker at a rate corresponding with that at which the stokerfeeds the fuel.

Thus the chute 'd constitutes a partition in the uptake through whichthe furnace gases, or a portion thereof, entering the uptake through theport 7L, must pass twice on their Serial No. 345,412.

way to the chimney, baffle z' in the uptake compelling this course.

It is preferred to arrange a second port c or passage of furnace gasesinto the uptake, above the baffle c, so that any desired proportiondetermined by controlling the dampers placed in the two ports, of thegases may pass to the chimney without passing through the chute.

The chute preferably widens in a downward direction as indicated toensure free descent of the coal, and this descent may be continuous orintermittent as required by the kind of stoking used.

When, as here shown, the chute discharges into a stoklng hopper Z, thedischarge end of the chute should notform a tight fit in the mouth ofthe hopper lest the draught draw fire gases longitudinally through thechute;

Having thus described the nature of the said invention and the bestmeans I know of carrying the same into practical effect, l claim 1.Apparatus of the character described, comprising a furnace, and anuptake, a wall separating the two and provided with an openingconnecting said furnace and said uptake, a damper controlling thepassage through said opening, an inclined chute for fuel formed of aseries of bars spaced apart and each downwardly inclined in crosssection, said' chute extending from the upper front lportion of saiduptake to the base thereof, a baffle plate mounted in the side of saiduptake above said opening and extending from said wall to the adjacentside of said chute, means for feeding fuel in a divided condition to theupper end of said chute, and means for conveying the fuel from the lowerend of said chute to said furnace.

2. Apparatus of the character described, comprising a furnace, and anuptake, a wall separating the two and provided with an openingconnecting said furnace and said uptake, a damper controlling thepassage through said opening, an inclined chute for fuel formed of aseries of bars spaced apart and each downwardly inclined, in crosssection, said chute extending from the upper daf) front portion of saiduptake to the base thereof, the passage through said chute increasing inCross section from the top to the bottom thereof, a baffle plate mountedin the side of said uptake above said opening and extending,` from saidWall to the adjacent side of said chute, means for feeding fuel in adivided condition to the upper end of said chute, and means forConveying the fuel from the lower end of said chute to said fur- 10nace.

In testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification.

WILFRED R. WOOD,

